Author's Note: The song here is clearly from the Kipo show obviously. Just wanted to point it out.

On their way to the cactus forest, the group was both eager and scared to face the Mega Mute that was in there. During the walk, Dave nudged Benson over to Manic.

Benson blew out a breath before approaching the green hedgehog. "So… Manic, listen… Band-aids are hard to rip off."

Manic raised his eyebrow to him. "Yeah, and it's even worse on fur. What's your point?"

"Right… Look, we really enjoyed rocking out with you guys and it's sure to be a story we're gonna tell about… but we can't really tell it when we're eaten by a Mega-Mute."

Manic had on a stunned expression and stopped walking. He turned to Benson and Dave. "Wait. What are you saying?"

Dave took a breath. "Look, Manic, I'm gonna be straight with you. Benson and I… We were talking about leaving."

Manic widened his eyes. "What?"

"Look, Manic, it's nothing personal really." Benson said nervously. "It's just… There's a Mega Mute in there strong enough to rip a tree out from the ground and use it to destroy a whole burrow. That scares the heck out of us."

"Well, it scares me too!" Manic argued. "But somewhere in there is Kipo's dad, and according to the Oracle dude, my mom will be there too! I've known the two of you for years and I've always helped you out of everything! But the most important thing that'll ever happen to me is just one mile away, and you won't even support me?"

Benson rubbed the back of his head. "Wow. Never thought of it like that. Sorry, Manic. I just wanted to know how to tell you."

Manic sighed. "You know what. It's okay. It's a lot easier to say bye now that I know how much I really mean to you." He turned before Benson and Dave could say another word.

"Manic, wait…" Benson's words fell on deaf ears as the drummer paced himself faster to catch up with the rest of the group. The human boy then frowned. "Dave, are we bad friends?"

"It does look that way." Dave shared his friend's regret. "Should we go over there and say we changed our minds?"

"No, it's too late for that." Benson said. "He'll just think we came back just to make him feel better. We pulled off the band-aid, but we can't really reapply it."

"That's deep, and sad." Dave said. "Well, we made our bed…" He and Benson sadly turned around.

"Well, this is the place." Cotton said as she lead the gang straight to the edge of the grove. "You sure you want to go through with it. That thing is a real beast."

"We have to." Kipo said. "Ready, guys? I won't force you to go if you don't want to."

"We're with you, Kipo." Sonic said. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Kipo took a breath and headed inside. Everyone in her gang and the Timbercats followed.

At the edge of Cactus Town, Benson and Dave were still dour over their last interaction with Manic. The silence broke when Benson yelled in frustration.

"This is ridiculous! Manic's right! The three of us are supposed to have each other's backs! But we're just being selfish!"

"I hear you, Benson." Dave said. "For all we know, Manic could be hugging his mom by now and we're missing out on…" He stopped when he noticed something in the distance. "Wait, what's that?"

Benson squinted into the distance to see the motorbike carrying three certain mutes toward the cactus grove. After getting a good long look, he gasped.

"Dave, I think those are bounty hunters!"

"What?" Dave asked. "What are they doing here?"

"It looks like they're heading to… Oh, no." Benson gasped. "They're after Kipo and the others. They must be working for Scarlemagne."

"They're in greater trouble than we thought." Dave said. "Well, if we wanna make things right with Manic, I'd say this is a good place to start."

Quick as a flash, Sonic ran out of the grove to meet up with everyone. "Okay. I just took a quick look inside. What we're dealing with a giant Mega Monkey. Luckily, it's fast asleep, so we have the element of surprise."

"Did you find my people?" Kipo asked.

"No, but I did see a hotel near where the monkey's sleeping. If that thing did kidnap the humans, my money's on them staying there."

"Then let's go after that beast!" Yumyan yelled raising his axe. "Yumyan owns you…"

"Whoa, hold it!" Sonic interrupted. "I said we have the element of surprise! If we wake it up when we're half a kilometer away from it, we'll lose it."

"Sonic's right." Sonia agreed. "Our best bet is probably to ensnare it while it's still sleeping. You do want everyone to live to scratch again, right?"

Yumyan sighed. "Fine. We'll do it your way. Even though it's no fun."

"Let's do this stealthy." Kipo whispered. She began walking carefully into the grove. Everyone followed her.

Once they were inside, the gang got a better look at the Mega Monkey, a mile-high behemoth with red skin, orange fur, and a white beard. As Sonic said, it was fast asleep.

Kipo noticed a small sparkle in the dirt near the monkey. She brushed off the soil and pulled out a clover-shaped guitar pick. She gasped quietly and grasped it tight.

"What's that?" Tails asked.

"It's my dad's pick." Kipo answered. "Things are looking good now."

BAM!

The ear-piercing noise echoed through the grove. Everyone jumped at the sudden shock of it.

"What was that?!" Kipo asked in surprise.

"Sounds like gunfire!" Wolf answered keeping her guard up.

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Yumyan yelled. "COME OUT, YOU COWARD!" It wasn't long before he and the other Timbercats raised their axes and screamed loudly into the air at every direction.

"Guys, what about…" Sonia started to say, but was interrupted. The Mega Monkey was awake and started to tower over them all with a very angry expression on its face.

"That oughta do it!" Fang congratulated himself before blowing into his gun's nozzle. "Come on, boys! We'll intercept the targets once they stagger out of the cacti!"

"Are you sure about this, Fang?" Bean asked. "Sounds like quite a ruckus in there. It may be dangerous."

"Danger is my middle name."

"I thought it was Leslie."

Fang groaned at that last comment. "Whatever. Let's just go and…"

"AAAAAAHHH!"

The Hooligans were caught by surprise when Benson and Dave jumped at them. The two of them wrestled against the three mercenaries on top of the motorbike while shifting the gear to drive by accident. They didn't know it until the bike started moving at high speed toward the grove. In just a matter of seconds, the bike flew right off a ramp and went flying right toward the cacti. The five of them (save for Bark) screamed at the upcoming crash.

While the Timbercats fought against the Mega Monkey, the gang huddled behind a rock.

"Any ideas?" Sonic asked.

"Look, the monkey's distracted." Wolf said. "Let's just get into that hotel to find your people."

"We can't just leave them like this." Kipo said. "Look, I have a plan, but it's definitely crazy."

"That's never stopped us before." Tails said. "What's the plan?"

"Okay. You remember how we rocked out with the Umlaut Snakes. I was thinking we play a song to get the Mega Monkey to stop. After that, Wolf will sting it with her Deathstalker tail and paralyze it."

"Best plan we got." Sonia said. "But how can we get the monkey's…"

The fight was interrupted by the crash of cactus branches. Everyone looked up and saw the bike falling from above with five passengers on top, two of whom everyone recognized. The bike hit the Mega Monkey right in the face stunning it for a bit while its riders fell of.

"Benson? Dave?" Manic asked. "What are you two doing here?"

"Manic, we're very sorry!" Benson said getting up. "We'll support you however we can!"

"Yeah!" Dave said. "Even if it gets us killed!"

Seeing her chance, Kipo climbed up to the top of the rock with the hedgehogs following her. Once they were on top, they summoned their instruments.

"Any ideas for a song this time?" Sonic asked.

"I've got one." Kipo said wielding her father's guitar pick. She used it to strum her guitar. Sonic, Sonia, and Manic followed her lead.

After recovering, the Mega Monkey heard the strumming and roared at the kids. She ran off to chase attack them. That's when Kipo began to sing.

Kipo:

We may not have sunshine

Or starlight or weather

But we've got each other

And that's even better

During the run, the Mega Monkey began to calm down and go slower. It stopped running right as it towered over the kids. It shook its head as if it was waking up from a dream. It turned its eyes right back at the band and widened its eyes. Wolf jumped to the top of its head and prepared to strike, but Kipo shook her head no to her friend. Strangely enough, Wolf accepted it. Kipo and the hedgehogs continued playing while the Mega Monkey watched with astonishment. And not just it, but everyone around were surprised at what they were seeing.

Kipo:

You don't need the sun to keep you warm

When you've got arms

Wishes come from you and not

A random shooting star

We may not have storm clouds

But the sky's always blue

We've got something special here

And what we have is you

What we have is yooooouuuuu

What we have is you

Once the song ended gently, both the kids and the Mega Monkey stared at each other. Mostly, the hedgehogs were surprised at what they were seeing.

"Well, I certainly didn't see this coming." Sonic said.

"Um, hi." Kipo waved to the Mega Monkey. "You okay?"

Surprisingly, the Mega Monkey nodded her head.

"Wait." Manic said. "Did that just understand you? I thought it was just a mindless beast."

"Guess there's more to it than we thought." Kipo smiled. "So… Listen, a couple days ago, you broke into our burrow and attacked my people. Did you… eat them?" The Mega Monkey shook her head. "You didn't? Then they got away?" She nodded. "That's great!"

The Mega Monkey slowly raised her finger and used it to gently brush Kipo's hair. She did the same stroking the hedgehog's quills.

"Well, someone's friendly." Sonia laughed straightening her hair.

"So why'd you attack my burrow?" Kipo asked.

That was when the Mega Monkey looked scared. She turned her red eyes from side to side until a beeping noise was heard coming from under her chin. She raised it revealing a silver, metal band around her neck like a collar. It beeped until it sprayed a purple cloud that the monkey inhaled. A second later, the monkey's pupils dilated and she roared and jumped out of the grove disappearing into the distance.

"Wow. That was awesome… until it got scary." Kipo said. She got startled by the sound of a gun cocking behind her. She turned to see Fang pointing a pistol at her with Bean and Bark behind him.

"Sweet song, sweetheart," Fang said, "But don't suppose a silly serenade's going to save you."

"Ooh, nice tongue twister." Bean said. "Try this one. 'The Scooter Skunks sent six stacks of stinky sludge to Scarlemagne'."

"Shut up, Bean." Fang said.

"Who are you?" Kipo asked.

"The name's Fang. The moron here is Bean and the silent one is Bark. We were hired by Scarlemagne to bring you and your friends in. And unlike that Mega Monkey, I'm not so easily swayed by your little lullaby."

"Perhaps…" Sonic said, "But how do you fare against someone going mach 2?"

"What?" Fang asked just before getting dashed by Sonic going super fast. Fang landed on the ground right where Yumyan was standing by.

"I take it you're the punk who made that loud noise."

Yumyan and the rest of his Timbercats pulled out their axes. Fang chuckled nervously realizing how much his plan backfired.

After placing the Hooligans in a wooden cage, the Timbercats surrounded the Scratching Tree where Yumyan Hammerpaw stood atop of.

"Raise your axes, Timbercats! The day is won thanks to Yumyan Hammerpaw… and the kids perhaps."

Back on the ground, Sonic was greeted by the Umlaut Snakes.

"We saw the whole thing, little blue dude." Cotton said. "You got more guts than I gave you credit for."

"And you're still crazy." The other snake said.

"Aw, you're making me blush." Sonic said. "Well, will you let my friends and the Timbercats out?"

"As long as you promise to never tell anyone we helped out the cats, and that they're quiet as they leave."

"Respect the headache."

Sonic chuckled. "Will do."

The Timbercats began their hard labor to move the Scratching Tree. While they did that, Yumyan Hammerpaw slid off and landed in front of the gang.

"We owe you a great debt, you guys." Yumyan said. "And to start, we now trust you with our secret."

"Your secret?" Kipo asked excitedly. "Yes! What is it?"

Yumyan darted his eyes left and right before explaining. "You ever heard of the Freedom Fighters?"

Wolf groaned. "You've got to be kidding me. The Freedom Fighters? That's just a myth."

"Not a myth, little one." Yumyan said. "They're real, and we Timbercats are part of it."

"Am I missing something here?" Kipo asked. "What are Freedom Fighters?"

"Well," Tails explained, "They say that when Scarlemagne first came into power, a lot of mutes didn't like how he ran things in Las Vistas. So they put together a rebel army to fight for their freedom."

"A couple of years ago, the Freedom Fighters have been dealt a heavy blow by Scarlemagne's hands." Yumyan said. "Since then, we've been careful. These days, we mostly just take food and medicine from his transports. Maybe deface tributes to him and free a prisoner or two of his. But we haven't done much that would make an impact on him. That is, until you guys found your way into our litter."

"Us?" Sonic asked.

"When Scarlemagne began his reign, he told everyone that he was after four hedgehogs; three kids and an adult woman. Though he never explained why, the Freedom Fighters have always believed that this would be a hot commodity."

"So you want us to help you fight Scarlemagne?" Manic asked.

"This is quite a lot to take in, Yumyan." Kipo said. "At the moment, I just want to find my people and see if they made it okay, especially my dad."

"I understand, Kipo." Yumyan said. He pulled out small, flat can with a fish picture on its side. "Here. Should you ever need our assistance, just open this can of tuna and help will come. In the meantime, I'll speak to our leader, Arbor, and tell them of everything you've done. You escaped the Mod Frogs with a Mega Bunny, you flew across Skyscraper Ridge, you restrained Pierre, you got me down from that tree, you made peace with the Umlaut Snakes, you got back our Scratching Tree, and you tamed a wild Mega Monkey with a song. Hope for freedom will certainly come back when everyone hears the daring feats of… Wait, do you guys have a name?"

"Um, yeah. I'm Kipo. This is Sonic…"

"No, I know your names. I meant the name of your group. I wouldn't want to tell the epic tales of 'the gang'. That's so generic."

"Oh." Kipo said. "Um…"

"Ooh!" Sonic said excitedly. "How about… Kipo Underground!"

"What?" Kipo asked. "Why?"

"Well, 'underground' is meant to describe rebels, right?" Sonic asked.

"But why is my name in it?" Kipo asked.

"I figured you deserved it." Sonic said. "You were kinda the MVP today."

"I second that." Sonia said. "You managed to talk to a Mega Mute. I seriously doubt any of us would do the same."

"Fine by me." Manic said.

Kipo smiled softly. "All right. Yumyan…"

"I hear you. Kipo Underground it is." He turned back to manage the other Timbercats.

It didn't take much for the Hooligans to break out of their wooden cage. Bark the Polar Bear was a lot stronger than he looked. He burst through the wooden bars and knocked out the two Timbercats that carried them. The Hooligans ran off until they were certain they were safe.

"So can we eat?" Bean asked.

"Sure. You hungry for failure?" Fang asked sarcastically. "Maybe a side of disrespect? 'Cause that's what's for lunch."

"Well, what do we do?" Bean asked.

"We gotta finish the job." Fang said. "Once word spreads of the burrow girl and the hedgehog kids, it'll be open season for Scarlemagne's favor. We lost our ride, so we'll have to look for some dragonflies." Bean and Bark nodded before continuing their trek to a dragonfly area.

"So… Manic," Benson said just as the gang—now called Kipo Underground—had left the cactus forest. "About what happened earlier…"

"I got this, Benson." Dave said. "Manic, we're very sorry for telling you we wanted to leave."

Manic sighed. "Well, I get it. About half of the stuff we've been through so far was a lot more exciting than most of our old adventures. But I still want to see this through. I want to find my mom."

"And we'll be there to help." Benson said. "We're friends, Manic. We're with you until the end of the line."

"Hopefully, not our lifelines." Dave said.

Manic chuckled. "Thanks, guys."

"At least we know some stuff." Kipo said. "Not only are my people alive, but they also got away."

"We know something else too." Wolf said. "That monkey was clearly under mind control. Your song snapped her out of it temporarily. There's only one mute out there who can control that thing."

Sonia gasped. "Scarlemagne."

"What?" Kipo asked.

"This guy I know, Bartleby, once told me of one of his mandatory visits to Scarlemagne's palace." Sonia said. "He told me that Scarlemagne demonstrated an ability to instantly brainwash any primate with his pheromones. The worst part is, most of his collection are human."

"That's messed up." Kipo said.

"That's why he's after your burrow." Tails said. "With all those people, he'll have enough for an entire army."

"So we need to find my home first." Kipo said. "But we don't know where to start looking."

"Yeah." Sonic agreed. "We don't really have much of a clue."

Benson smiled and pulled out his music player. With one push of a button, the catchy beat played out. He, Dave, and Manic shifted their shoulders to match its rhythm.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Tails asked.

"When I get good ideas, I play music." Benson said. "And I just had an awesome idea. You said 'clue', so a thought came to mind. It seems that what we have here is a real mystery. Thankfully, I know just the detectives for the job."

Author's Note: Done with this. Who do you think is Benson talking about?

Now, I'd like to discuss a certain something that was pointed out. First, the jacket that Kipo admired in Cactus Town. I completely forgot how important it was in later episodes. Thankfully, I know how to amend this in a later chapter.

Any and all comments are welcome.